Maoists loot 16 tonnes of ammonium nitrate
By IANSThursday, May 20, 2010
RAIPUR - Suspected Maoists hijacked a truck in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district and looted 16 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer also used to make explosives, police said Thursday.
“It’s really very stunning. A few Maoists forcibly diverted the truck from National Highway 43 on Tuesday and took it to their forest hideout in Bastar district. They released the truck and the driver after offloading about 16 tonnes of ammonium nitrate,” Bastar Superintendent of Police P. Sundaraj told IANS.
He said the police came to know about the incident only when the driver, Pappa Rao, told them Thursday afternoon. “We have begun a probe,” said the officer.
Ammonium nitrate is a common fertiliser. It is also used as an oxidizing agent in explosives, which Maoists use to deadly effect.
